Time's Table
by Jen717
Summary: Five different Captains from five different time periods wind up having to work together to stop a black hole in the center of the galaxy from harming another race in another galaxy. (I suck at summaries.) R&R, please!
1. The Embassy

**Disclaimer: I don't own Janeway (or her crew), Sisko (or his crew), Picard (or his crew), Kirk (or his crew, sadly), and Archer (or his crew). ****Paramount**** hogs them. Though, the Xenonians and the Ambassador's species are mine.**

**WORK IN PROGRESS: Updates will probably be far between! (A week or two, anyway.)**

**I'm trying to make this story as plausible as possible. I'm gonna have to do research on black holes and wormhole theories to make this realistic, though some parts will still be raw from my imagination.**

Archer knew this place. It was familiar somehow, like an old memory tickling the corners of his mind. It looked like a palace, but he knew it wasn't. A fuzzy, dreamlike haze surrounded everything, playing tricks with the corners of his vision. His shoes made an echo whenever he stepped on the shining marble floor, and chandeliers hung down from the ceiling like giant spiders hanging by a thread. The light from the antique chandeliers lit up the palace-like hall as well as a sun in a cloudless afternoon sky, making the snow white pillars gleam. Ahead, at the end of wide hall, were two sets of double doors, with round golden handles hanging down limply. The doors to the left were the ones he seeked.

Pushing one of them open, he found the people inside as they were the last time he was here, gathered around a circular, wooden table. Three men and a woman, wearing different uniforms, looked up as he entered. There were only five seats at the table. Four were taken, so Archer took his place at the fifth.

Turning the screen of the monitor at the center of the table to face him, he logged in. He was asked to give his time period and ship name and class, and he chose his name from an alphabetical list of hundreds of Starfleet captains.

"Archer, Jonathon." The computer confirmed.

Archer leaned back in his chair and glanced at each of the people in turn. To his left, was Captain James T. Kirk, dressed in a gold shirt and black pants that just touched the tops of black boots. Archer knew he would command the _USS Enterprise NCC-1701 _in about a hundred year's time. Beside Kirk, sat the bald-headed Jean-Luc Picard, also Captain of a ship called _Enterprise_. His uniform shirt was red with black over the shoulders, with little rank pips shinning in the chandelier light. To Picard's left was the dark-skinned, and also bald, Benjamin Sisko. His uniform was black, with grey at the shoulders, and red showing at the neck. He was Captain on a Cardassian space station that Starfleet had taken over. To the left of Sisko, and to the right of Archer, sat Kathryn Janeway, her short brown hair framing her face. Her uniform was black with red areas at the shoulder. She was the Captain of a ship that had been stranded in the Delta Quadrant, which Archer knew was a long, long way away from Earth. Of course, the little room in the large embassy was a long way away from Earth, as well. He didn't know where, exactly, just that it was farther than any human had ever been. In his time period, anyway.

A person materialized in the room suddenly. He looked human, though Archer, and the other Captains, knew very well he was not. The alien spoke English perfectly and clearly, though they knew it was not his mother tongue.

"As you know, Captains, you are here to learn about a threat. I have more information, and a plan of action against the threat."

"What kind of threat are we dealing with?" Kirk asked. "Stellar phenomenon? Alien threat? Who exactly is being threatened?"

The alien leaned over between Sisko and Janeway and put five padds on the table, one for each Captain, each getting the padd that's used in their own time frame. Archer read his, knowing it contained information and details on the unknown threat.

"An alien species from the Andromeda Galaxy, as you call it, will conquer the galaxy, and threaten to take over other galaxies with the new power and technology they will acquire from your galaxy."

Archer read through the padd, listening to the alien talk and the other Captains question him. He said nothing, only observed and read from his padd. The aliens in question called themselves the Xenonians. Why a race would name themselves that, Archer didn't know, but wanted to. He read on, discovering that they'll come to the Milky Way through a wormhole in the center of the galaxy.

"Excuse me." Archer interrupted the Alien. "What do you mean that the aliens will come into the galaxy through a worm hole at the center?"

"In the center of your galaxy–"

"Our galaxy." Archer interrupted. "Meaning you're not from around here?"

"That is talk for later, Captain Archer. At the center of your galaxy, there are two black holes, as you know. Both are dormant during your time period, but will become active within two hundred years."

Janeway barely stifled a gasp.

"One of them is not a black hole, as it seems. One is a wormhole, connecting your galaxy to the Andromeda galaxy. It is through this wormhole that the Xenonians will invade the galaxy."

"Why will they do it, Ambassador?" Picard asked. "What will happen that will influence them to come here?"

The Ambassador moved over toward the window, light from an unknown source streaming in and bathing his face in golden warmth. "If acid were to rain down from the sky, what would happen?" He reached out the window, feeling for something unseen by the Starfleet Captains. There was a soft snap, and the Ambassador came back to the table with a pink-white flower in his hand, more beautiful than any flower that Archer had ever seen. "Life would die. The acid kills it. Nothing could survive under such a harsh, choking rain."

"What are you saying?" Sisko asked, thoroughly confused.

"Even with a black hole at the center of your galaxy, the wormhole remains, sucking up all the remains spewed out by the black hole. The wormhole exists within the black hole, and the black hole within the wormhole."

"So you're saying they're right on top of each other." Janeway simplified.

The alien Ambassador nodded.

"That still doesn't explain why the Xenonians will attack." Kirk said impatiently.

"A black hole sucks up everything near it, as you know." The Ambassador explained. "Since the black hole and wormhole are within each other, everything that goes into the black hole goes through the wormhole, where it is dumped out the other side. In this case, the Andromeda galaxy. Comparing this to my earlier analogy, the waste from the black hole is the acid rain."

The Captains were silent for a moment, thinking over what the Ambassador had just told them.

"If there's a black hole on top of the wormhole," Archer asked finally. "Then how will the Xenonians get from there to here without being destroyed in the process?"

"They will harness the power of the black hole, use it and the power of the wormhole as a sling shot or catapult. They will use its tight pull to their benefit."

Archer shook his head in disbelief, his motion shadowed by the other Captains.

"Enough has been said." The Ambassador said. "You must return to your ships to think on what you have been told. Your next visit will be four days from now, and I will tell you the plans we have made to protect your galaxy and the Andromeda galaxy."

"Wait." Janeway said. "Who are you?"

The Ambassador hesitated a moment, but that moment was so brief, Archer wondered if he had imagined it. "I am a Guardian. That is all I will say… for now. Be gone, now!"

The white dream-like haze that surrounded everything brightened to an unbearable ivory glow. Archer could see nothing but whiteness, until it died down and there was nothing but darkness.


	2. Niseotek

Archer woke up with a gasp, his eyes popping open, seeing nothing but a dull reflection of dim light on the ceiling of his quarters. He shivered suddenly, realizing that in his sleep he had thrown half of the blankets off the bed and onto the floor, where they gathered in a tangled pile.

A cold tingle rushed through the Captain's body as he slowly remembered his second encounter with the Ambassador and four Captains. Black hole. Wormhole. Threat. Destruction. Power. Andromeda.

Quickly pulling on the nearest clothing he could find – his uniform – he sat down at the monitor on his desk and searched through the Vulcan database for information on black holes and wormholes, scolding himself after a moment before switching to the English version of the database. He saved every scrap of information he could find onto his computer, then went through the Denobulan database, again saving every bit of information he could find. As an afterthought, he went back through the databases for information on the Guardians. He found none.

Downloading the information onto a padd before logging out of the system, he quickly washed up in his bathroom before heading down to the mess hall for a quick coffee and breakfast, skimming the information on the padd. He sat down at a table alone, refusing anybody who asked to sit with him. Hoshi was one of the people who he turned away.

"I can translate body language, you know." She told him.

"Then you know now is not a good time." He said, taking a sip of coffee. She gave him an 'if-you-insist' look before finding somewhere else to sit.

After finishing up his meal, he went to the bridge where he immediately summoned T'pol to go into his ready room with him. Sitting down at his desk, he motioned for the Vulcan to take a seat across from him.

"Is it possible for a black hole and a wormhole to coexist within one another?" Archer asked, wasting no time. His thoughts were wild as a river, and he wouldn't spend time trying to cover up that he'd discovered something urgent.

T'pol barely looked shocked at such a random question, but she knew it was logical for him to ask her, since she was his science officer.

"Not much is known about wormholes at this point, but it would be highly doubtful that one would be able to exist within a black hole." She said emotionlessly.

"How much is not much?"

T'pol raised an eyebrow. "Vulcan scientists know the basics of wormholes. What they do, how they work, but we can only theorize from simulations what might happen in certain circumstances, or what makes worm holes function. What do you need to know?"

Archer shook his head dismissively. "Is it possible for a wormhole to exist in the center of the galaxy, and connect to another galaxy?"

T'pol hesitated a moment. "How far away might this other galaxy be?"

Archer thought for a minute, trying to find the best way to imply the Andromeda galaxy without actually saying it. "Within the local group, close to the Milky Way."

"I am not certain, Captain." She answered after a moment's pause. "Why do you need to know?"

"I don't need to." He answered quickly. "Just curiosity."

** - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - **

Janeway rubbed her fingers along her forehead, straining to organize her thoughts and think straight, think harder. She took a sip of coffee and tossed her padd down on the desk with a rattling clank. She closed her eyes, trying to focus on the blackness, trying to calm down her whirlwind of thoughts. Blackness. Black holes. Her thoughts exploded again.

The sudden chirping of the door chime startled Janeway. She growled under her breath before mumbling "Come."

Seven of Nine entered, hands clasped behind her back, and stopped in front of the Captain's desk. "You wished to see me."

"Did I?"

"Do you not remember? You contacted me in Astrometrics because you wanted to talk to me about something."

Astrometrics. Of course. "Yes, I remember." Kathryn said, standing up. "I'm sorry, I can't think straight today. I should have gone down to see you."

"Are you feeling ill, Captain?" Seven asked, not even a hint of concern on her smooth, ex-Borg face.

"No, I'm fine. Come with me."

They went down to Astrometrics in silence, Kathryn too wrapped up in what had happened last night to talk. What _had _happened? Had she really been in the Guardian's embassy, talking with two legendary Captains, her role-model, and the Captain of Deep Space Nine? Where was the Embassy? In the Alpha Quadrant? Because it sure was a long way away from the Hell that was the Delta Quadrant.

When they reached Astrometrics, Janeway immediately went to the main console, digging up information about the Andromeda galaxy and the center of the Milky Way.

"Captain?" Seven asked, confused about Janeway's behaviour.

"See what information you can find about the Andromeda Galaxy, and put it up on the screen." Janeway stopped working her console, and watched as information popped up and gathered on the large screen.

"Seven, do the Borg know of any species that live in the Andromeda Galaxy?"

"No. Only one Borg vessel has ever left the Galaxy, and it didn't survive long in open space. Why do you ask?"

"Just curious. I've always been curious about the Andromeda galaxy." This was partially true. She had seen the Andromeda galaxy many times through the telescope she owned as a girl. It was one of her favourite observing sights, and she sometimes took quick shots of it with her camera.

Seven gave her a curious look, but continued digging up piles of information.

"Stop there!" Janeway said suddenly when a map of the galaxy popped up on the viewer. The map showed the four quadrants of the Andromeda, with brief data on each. "Zoom in to the center." She ordered, and the image moved and the center grew until it took up all the space on the screen.

Oblivious to almost everything else, Janeway stepped up onto the platform, getting closer to the screen, reading the information.

"Do you know if there's a wormhole in the center?" She asked no one in particular.

The console behind her beeped, and Seven reported "Unknown."

"Is there a wormhole in the center of our galaxy?"

"No." Seven said again.

Janeway turned around. No? "The black hole in the center, could it be interfering…?"

"The black hole in the center of the galaxy is dormant at this time."

"Huh." Janeway said, coming down off the platform. "Thank you, Seven."

And lost in her thoughts again, she wandered down the corridors to her ready room. Coffee would surely clear her mind.

** - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - **

Niseotek hurled itself through space, in an unending orbit around the bright golden star the Xenonians called 'Light of Life', or in their language, Lisoshi. The green planet, streaked with blue like cat scratches, was known in the system as 'the miracle planet', as it was dream-like and quite Heavenly to outside visitors. The land was covered in trees, and beautiful flowers, bushes and ferns, and half a million different grasses. Birds busied themselves among high branches, their long, elaborately coloured tail feathers gleaming with drops of golden Lisoshi light, their songs carrying on the wind like an immortal whisper. Rodents and small animals scurried through the bushes, little mouse-like creatures running about under the cover of more than enough protecting plants. A soft moist mist seemed to hang in the air, as there was a type of cloud unique to Niseotek that existed close to the ground and not high in the sky.

The Xenonians fit into the landscape perfectly, with dark teal skin that often served as natural camouflage. Their hair was black, and the men kept theirs cut short while women had longer hair that was always put back in a braid. They had four arms and four legs each, and eight independently moving and blinking eyes, making them appear spider-like. The Xenonians did not split their world into different countries or cultures. They were all one people, with the same traditions and religion and government. And they preferred it that way. They had a simple lifestyle, and they liked it.

One starry night, while the sky was not yet completely black, a Xenonian astronomer called Gytia was stargazing with his son Asabane. Gytia positioned his telescope towards his favourite stargazing sight, and peered through the eight eyepieces. There it was, the beautiful Swirling Galaxy, as his people called it. Like a river of cream-coloured milk spinning slowly in the sky. He let his son take a look.

"What is it?" The young one asked.

"That is the closest galaxy to us, the Swirling Galaxy. I discovered it 30 years ago, when I was not much older than you."

"Did you report it to the Astronomy Society?"

"Indeed I did, my boy. I also gave them the blueprint for this telescope, which I built myself. The most powerful of its kind." He said proudly.

Asabane gave a sigh of awe for his father. A moment of silence followed, the boy peering through the telescope and his father looking upward contently.

"I plan to go there someday, my boy." He said suddenly.

"Go where?" Asabane asked, startled.

"To the Swirling Galaxy, of course. You can come with me if you like, and your mother."

He looked away from the telescope and up at his father, joy evident on his face. "How will we get there? It looks so far away!"

"You know about the wormhole in the center of the galaxy?"

"Yes, father. I learned of it in school!" He said enthusiastically.

"Good, good. I believe that wormhole goes to the center of the Swirling Galaxy."

"How do you know?"

"I do not. I have found bits of evidence of a wormhole in the center of the Swirling Galaxy, but none that it leads here. It will take me a long time to find out." He shrugged. "Or I could just take a ship into the center of our galaxy and find out."

Asabane paused in thought. That's what Gytia liked about him. He always thought about new information he's given. He gives it time for it to register and connect with other things he knows.

"How long, father? How long will it take?"

"Oh." He sighed, and sat down on the log behind him. He looked around him for a moment, staring into the pitch black forest that surrounded two sides of his house. "Generations." He whispered at last.


End file.
